Alchemy
by Margaret Mahy
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 45)
Read in December, 2007
YA fantasy. When charming, intelligent highschool student Roland inexplicably commits a petty crime, he finds himself blackmailed by a favourite teacher into befriending misfit Jess Ferret. But Jess has her own problems, and they're bigger and darker than Roland could have imagined.
I loved this book. I knew I loved it from the first page. It opened with a dream sequence, and I still loved it. There are things about Mahy's style that don't work for me: in particular, the dialogue, alth...more
I loved this book. I knew I loved it from the first page. It opened with a dream sequence, and I still loved it. There are things about Mahy's style that don't work for me: in particular, the dialogue, alth...more
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Read in January, 2008
I checked this book out of the library solely because of this sentence in the book jacket description that cracked me up:
"Why has a shady magician from Roland's past suddenly come back into his life?"
Turned out to be a pretty good book, as far as YA goes, one of those "realizing one's magical powers of being in extreme harmony with the universe whilst realizing girl you never talked to in school who's all into books about alchemy is actually sort of hot in her own intelligent-...more
"Why has a shady magician from Roland's past suddenly come back into his life?"
Turned out to be a pretty good book, as far as YA goes, one of those "realizing one's magical powers of being in extreme harmony with the universe whilst realizing girl you never talked to in school who's all into books about alchemy is actually sort of hot in her own intelligent-...more
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Read in October, 2007
Roland’s teacher blackmails him into spying on his classmate, the solitary and faintly mysterious Jessica Ferret. Roland and Jess strike up an unlikely alliance that gradually shifts as Roland grows ever more dissatisfied with his pretence at a normal life. As their friendship deepens, rival magicians close in on them. It’s a slightly psychedelic YA novel that deals with teenage identities and family more than magic.
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When I picked up this book, I knew I had read it before, but I couldn't remember a single thing about it, as opposed to The Changeover, also by Mahy, about which I can remember much of the plot, but never the name of the book (although I suppose I've fixed that now, haven't I?). That I found this book completely forgettable the first time around, and not much better the second, probably tells you everything you need to know.
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Read in July, 2007
I enjoyed this...I love the trend I'm seeing in young adult novels to show accurately the hidden nastiness and irrationality that is so much a part of being a teenager AND a person. When I was a kid it seemed like YA novels were much more...G-rated, I guess, in terms of character motivation. Anyway. I liked this book and I am excited for Maddigan's Fantasia when it finally comes out (is reissued?) in the US.
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So I got this book by accident. A couple of people recommended The Alchemist to me, and I forgot the exact title and so reserved a copy of this book instead. And I read it and wasn't that impressed, but figured out I had the wrong book. This book is a magic teenage genre that's fun, but not deserving the rave reviews other people had given it (or so I thought).
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The best fantasy (and fantastic realism) starts with people and situations that are completely normal and straightforward (for the time/place) and slowly draw you in to the story. Then when things get wild, you are grounded in the character's world views. I rate Margaret Mahy very highly.
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